CCTV keeps litterers at bay on Thanjavur Main Road

A smart move by the Trichy Corporation to make use of an existing CCTV surveillance from a shop, to monitor people dumping waste has augured well for the civic body on the Thanjavur Main Road.
Due to poor monitoring, dumping of waste has become a routine affair on the Thanjavur Main Road near the Gandhi Market. Taking help from a private shop nearby, the corporation covered the vulnerable vicinity under CCTV surveillance. Now, post the move, corporation officials claimed that the area has become garbage-free.


Considered a vulnerable zone, the seven-acre Gandhi market was always a hurdle for civic body to maintain cleanliness. With 250 to 300 shops in the market including wholesale shops for onion and potato, the civic body said that the market on average churns out 40 tonne waste per day. Besides, Thanneerpandhal on Thanjavur Main Road near the market has always been one of the hotspots of unsanitary conditions as organic waste dumped here attracts stray cattle to feed.
Unable to monitor the spot round-the-clock, corporation officials urged a private shop near Thanneerpandhal a few days ago to extend their CCTV coverage to monitor the spot where vegetable and fruit waste were frequently dumped. “A private shop agreed to help us monitor Thanneerpandhal spot to identify people dumping waste and penalise them heavily. Subsequently, we erected a hoarding mentioning that the spot was brought under CCTV surveillance,” an official with the Ariyamangalam zone of the corporation said.
After installing the hoarding, officials claimed that no waste was dumped in Thanneerpandhal locality. “Usually, we would collect at least 250kg of fruit and vegetable waste from Thanneerpandhal per day but after erecting the hoarding, no wastes were dumped here,” the official added.
Corporation officials said that emulating such measure to cover other vulnerable spots would be considered based on long-time feedback.

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